ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained No. 1 in the evenings (and No. 2 among regularly-scheduled U.S. TV programming) this past week, averaging 8.355 million total viewers and 1.52 million adults 25-54, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 174 of the past 175 weeks in average total viewers—and 103 of the last 105 weeks among adults 25-54.
For the second consecutive week, World News Tonight gained viewers from the previous week, up +1% in total viewers and +2% in adults 25-54 from the week of March 21, 2022. Compared with the same week in 2021 (March 29), the Muir-led newscast improved +3% in average total audience but shed -2% among adults 25-54.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged nearly 7 million total viewers (No. 3 among regularly-scheduled U.S. programming) with 1.25 million adults 25-54 during the week of March 28, 2022. The 7 million total average is +2% from the prior week and represents the newscast’s largest average audience in three weeks (since week of March 7). It’s also +1% from the year-ago week. However, the newscast did shed some adults 25-54 from comparable weeks, -1% vs. the prior week (March 21) and -1% from the year-ago week (March 29, 2021).
On YouTube, full episodes of NBC Nightly News reached an average of 994,000 views and 770,000 viewers last week. That’s according to Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.965 million total viewers and 862,000 adults 25-54 for the week of March 28. That’s +2% in total viewers and +4% among adults 25-54 from the previous week — more growth than its higher-rated competitors.
The year-over-year ratings trend was positive as well, with Evening News up +1% in total viewers and +4% among adults 25-54.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of March 28, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,355,000 | 6,999,000 | 4,965,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,519,000 | 1,248,000 | 862,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 3/28/22), Previous Week (w/o 3/21/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/29/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 4/3/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 4/4/21). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.